text:
This article was originally published in the September/October 1992 issue of Home Energy Magazine. Some formatting inconsistencies may be evident in older archive content.
| Home Energy Home Page | Back Issues of Home Energy |
Home Energy Magazine Online September/October 1992
New Construction in New England: The Energy Crafted Home Program
by Nancy A. Schalch and Lynn R. Fryer
Nancy A. Schalch is the technical analyst and program manager for Mass-Save, Inc. and the chair fo the Board of Directors of the Northeast Sustainable EnergyAssoc. (NESEA). Lynn R. Fryer is a senior analyst and program planner for New England Power Service Co., and is on the Board of Directors at NESEA.
The comprehensive design of the Energy Crafted Home program includes regional utility collaboration, builder involvement, and a multi-media marketing approach.
Several electric utilities in New England developed the Energy Crafted Home program to encourage the construction of single-family and multifamily homes that are substantially more energy efficient than those built to code. New construction energy efficiency programs tend to be cost-effective for utilities because it's less expensive to build a home right the first time than to retrofit it later.
In some respects, the Energy Crafted Home program is similar to the Canadian R2000 and the Bonneville Power Administration Super Good Cents programs. It is performance-based and provides builders with training and technical assistance in getting their homes to achieve the program specifications. Field inspections of each home are also part of the program. Builders receive cash incentives for each qualifying home, but even more important to the builders is the program's marketing support.
In other respects, the program is unusual. It is open to all homes regardless of fuel type. (The financial incentives are significantly larger for electric heat homes.) Besides heating, other end-uses are targeted, including lighting and cooling. Blower-door tests verify air- tightness standards, and indoor air quality issues are addressed, in part by requiring mechanical ventilation.
Because of the program's thermal and ventilation standards, these homes should be less expensive to operate, healthier to occupy, and more comfortable to live in-significant advantages to both the builder and homebuyer.
Table 1: Building Shell Performance Requirements Heating: <= 1.4 Btu/ft2 of shell/heating degree-day Cooling: <= 2.7-3.7*Btu/ft2 of shell/cooling degree-day (*depending on cooling load of utility region) Infiltration: <= 1.0 in2 of opening/100 ft2 of shell (at 4 Pascals of pressure difference) Moisture control: Continuous vapor barrier (on walls, ceiling and floors, around insulated ducts, and under slabs) Indoor air quality: Pollutant source reduction and continuous ventilation (60 cfm in small homes and 100 cfm in larger homes) Fossil-fuel appliances: Sealed or closed combustion on heaters and water heaters (fireplaces/stoves must have airtight doors and fresh air supply) Lighting: Hard-wired fluorescent fixtures are encouraged (also, bare-bulb fixtures must have compact fluorescents)
Program Design
The program helps builders improve their construction standards by providing training and technical assistance, an energy analysis of each home, and a series of quality assurance inspections during construction. Financial incentives defray some or all of the added costs of building a home. And marketing to homebuyers and promotion to real estate agents and lenders helps create demand.
The Specs
The Energy Crafted Home program achieves energy savings in new construction by increasing thermal efficiency. With performance- based energy standards, builders can maintain design flexibility and participate regardless of the size or complexity of the home. Every house must meet building shell energy performance budgets for heating, cooling, and infiltration (see Table 1).
All interested builders attend two-day training workshops. The utility sponsors these workshops frequently throughout the region, and at a very low cost. Builders learn to treat a house as a system, with special attention to moisture, indoor air quality, thermal integrity, isolation of combustion equipment, and controlled ventilation (instead of uncontrolled infiltration). For example, they are shown various techniques for minimizing thermal bypasses and installing continuous vapor barriers in difficult areas (namely, around windows and in corners). They are also provided with a reference manual and computer software so they can perform their own building thermal performance simulations. The builder's manual includes program requirements, many examples of good construction detail, and explanations behind recommendations and requirements. A number of small builders in New England already use many of the state-of-the-art construction details recommended at the workshops, but the majority of the participants see these construction techniques for the first time at the workshops.
Plans Evaluation and Technical Support
Builders submit plans for each Energy Crafted Home to the utility that will serve it. An evaluator reviews the blueprints and system details for compliance, and uses a computer simulation program to determine whether the design meets thermal efficiency standards. Modifications are generally required, so the plans evaluator analyzes the energy performance and thermal integrity of various changes and works with the builder to select upgrades to meet program specifications.
Even after the training workshop, most builders need additional technical assistance with such issues as continuous air/vapor retarders, state-of-the-art heating and ventilation equipment, and overall design for maximum thermal performance. Most builders feel the plans evaluation process is beneficial and depend on the evaluators' technical and construction expertise as they design and build their first Energy Crafted Homes.
Inspections and Quality Control
The utility ensures that a home is constructed to specification by paying an inspector to make three site visits. The first inspection verifies that the insulation and air/vapor retarder are properly installed. The primary purpose of the second inspection is to confirm that the building meets the program's air-tightness standards. The inspector uses a blower door test to measure infiltration and to identify any air sealing still required to meet program guidelines. This inspection takes place after the drywall is in place, but before any trim has been installed. The third inspection is a final walk- through once the home is complete. While the heating, domestic hot water, ventilation, and distribution systems are generally examined at each stage, the final inspection confirms that these systems and their controls are functioning properly. Sealed combustion is critical, as is proper air flow and balancing of ventilation systems. The utility inspector checks lights, duct and pipe insulation, fireplaces, wood stoves, and exhaust hoods during a final inspection.
When the house is complete, the utility certifies it as an Energy Crafted Home and registers the builder as an Energy Crafted Home builder. An owner's manual, which details the advantages of owning an Energy Crafted Home and how to care for it, is then presented to the buyer.
Hard Cash
The utility pays financial incentives for each home. For electrically heated homes, the incentives ($1,650 for single-family and $900 per multifamily unit) were designed to cover the average incremental cost to the builder of going from a code-built home to an Energy Crafted Home. Incentives for fossil-fuel-heated homes ($150 for single family and $75 for multifamily) are based on the electrical savings for lighting, water heating, and cooling. In addition, builders receive $25 for each hard-wired fluorescent fixture they install. It turns out the primary incentive for most builders is not the money, but the program marketing-more about this later.
Getting Everyone Involved
A Commonwealth of Utilities
The Energy Crafted Home program was developed jointly by several electric utilities in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. (The participating utilities are Blackstone Valley Electric, Boston Edison, Eastern Edison, Granite State Electric, Massachusetts Electric, Narragansett Electric, Newport Electric, and Western Massachusetts Electric.) The program began in early 1989 when the utilities established the Joint Management Committee to oversee program development, builder training, marketing, and implementation. It includes representatives from each of the participating utilities, and involves builders, technical experts, and a consultant who helps coordinate it. The Joint Management Committee met biweekly for the first two years and continues to meet monthly.
Coordinating the effort of so many separate utilities presented many challenges; fortunately, the resulting regional program has many advantages. Most builders work across utility jurisdictions, so having one program means they need to learn only one set of program requirements and attend just one training session. It is also more cost-effective to have one program and marketing plan to reach customers throughout the region.
True Trade Allies
Using a regional design approach, the utilities were able to pool resources and retain the services of experienced energy-conscious builders, architects, and engineers. They assembled more than a dozen teams to work on specific issues such as the building shell, cooling, lighting, appliances, construction details, ventilation, and passive solar design.
The utilities' Builders' Advisory Board was established to provide a forum for communication between the Joint Management Committee and builders. Through regular meetings of the Builders' Advisory Board, builders have been kept apprised of program status, and invited to provide input and feedback on documents and training sessions. Several marketing tools, including a video for prospective clients and a display booth for home shows, were developed based on suggestions from the Builders' Advisory Board.
The involvement of so many industry gate-keepers has been critical to the program's acceptance by the building community. These local professionals all feel some program ownership and hence are likely to build Energy Crafted Homes themselves and encourage their colleagues to do likewise. A measure of the programÕs success is its endorsement by such diverse groups as the Massachusetts Association of Home Builders and the Northeast Sustainable Energy Assoc. (formerly Northeast Solar Energy Assoc.). NESEA has also endorsed and helped to market the program, and its members have played key roles as program designers, workshop instructors, and inspectors.
Performance Standard Approach
The utilities and building professionals selected performance-based standards for several reasons. Design flexibility is critical for most participants. Another advantage is that, as building technologies or building codes improve, it is simple to update the program by changing performance targets. Performance standards also require overall energy savings, so contractors aren't tempted to trade off sloppiness or inefficiency in some areas to meet prescription standards in others. Actual savings should therefore be higher for performance-based programs than prescriptive programs.
The program can only succeed if builders erect and people buy Energy Crafted Homes. Without widespread acceptance, a technically sound program will not save much energy. Thus, marketing targets both builders and buyers with the message that energy efficiency is an indispensable feature in a new home.
The core of the marketing strategy is to communicate that energy efficiency is not only an economic feature of a new home but part of a package of features as important as siting or kitchen design. These features include comfort, durability, and environmental safety. Reduced energy costs are assured through energy analysis and inspections during construction. Educational materials emphasize that features such as mechanical ventilation and sealed combustion appliances, which are not standard in new homes, can significantly reduce risk of unsafe air quality in homes. Energy-efficient homes have fewer drafts and temperature swings than do traditional homes. Moisture damage is prevented by extensive use of vapor retarders and proper exhaust systems.
Reaching Builders
To get the program going, we sold it first to builders. The message to them combined two themes:
In both cases, the idea is that the Energy Crafted Home package of features will help give them a sales advantage over others that lack these features. Both small custom builders and large developers receive assistance with marketing.
Educating Homebuyers
Utilities and builders are using creative strategies to enhance the marketing of certified homes. Feature articles in newspapers, lawn signs, homeowner manuals, cooperative advertising in real estate journals, home show booths staffed by Energy Crafted Home builders, videos, television advertising, brochures, educational booklets, and promotional items such as hats and pens are just a few of the marketing approaches currently in place. The single program logo and name reinforced the message.
The newest marketing piece is a video, created as a result of builders' requests. The video, made for builders to distribute to prospective clients, features Energy Crafted Homes in various layouts and architectural styles. Builders explain the quality of construction and satisfied customers talk about lower fuel bills, increased comfort, and environmental responsibility. An abbreviated version is currently running as an ad on cable television.
Evaluation and Future Direction
The utilities are evaluating the program by way of interviews and focus groups with program designers, utility staff, plan evaluators, field inspectors, trainers, participating builders, non-participating builders, and recent and prospective homebuyers. The biggest barriers to builders are the slow market and the relatively low priority most buyers place on energy efficiency. Preliminary results indicate that most builders are aware of the program. Potential homebuyers, however, remain largely unaware of the program, indicating a need for marketing to target them.
A small, two-year end-use metering project began in January 1992. Sample program and control homes with similar floor plans and occupancy patterns were built by the same developer. The study is monitoring many end-uses. In addition, the whole building load and indoor and outdoor temperatures will be measured. Computer analyses for these homes predict a reduction of 30-40% in space heating for electric heat homes as compared to code, and a 40-50% reduction for fossil heat homes. (The difference in savings is due to the stricter code for electric heat.) The measured data will be used to modify the results of the computer simulations. While the measured results are not yet available, a preliminary analysis was presented at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy Summer Study in August.
Converting the Building Industry
Builders routinely depend on subcontractors for insulation, vapor retarders, heating systems, plumbing, and electrical work. One of their biggest challenges has been finding installers willing to comply with program standards. One way to expand builders' choices of qualified subcontractors would be to offer focused training sessions and Energy Crafted Home Installer Certification. A ventilation workshop and certification program already exists.
NESEA's annual Quality Building Conference and workshops are another avenue for providing more education to program builders. Other options include an information hotline or a panel of experts who could be available to answer questions and provide advice. Currently, evaluators and inspectors still provide most of the technical support.
In the first full year of implementation, the program trained over 400 builders who built nearly 150 Energy Crafted Homes. Most of the 1992 workshops are already booked to capacity. The regional goal for 1992 is to begin construction of another 400 to 600 single- and multifamily units (an ambitious goal in New England's slow market). Ultimately, the utilities plan to include 30% of the new, electric heat homes in the program.
Typical Construction Detail
The performance-based approach of the Energy Crafted Home program results in a great deal of flexibility on the part of the builder. However, several basic construction details are typical of many Energy Crafted Homes.
Walls: Some house plans pass the thermal analysis with R-20 or -21 in the walls (226 studs with cellulose or high-density fiber glass) but most are 226 construction with an inch of rigid foam on either the inside or outside (R-24 to R-28 total). The foam, typically extruded polystyrene or foil-faced isocyanurate, helps reduce thermal bypasses through the studs, and in some cases can function as the air/vapor retarder.
Ceilings: Virtually every Energy Crafted Home has more than the R-30 ceiling insulation required by code. R-40 is typical, and builders use various techniques to minimize thermal bypasses.
Windows: Since windows can be a major source of heat loss and solar gain, most Energy Crafted Homes have either thermal low-E glazing or argon-filled glazing. The thermal analysis considers orientation, unit U-values, solar transmittance, and exterior shading in evaluating the effect of windows on heating and cooling loads.
Heating Equipment: Heating systems and fuels vary, but they are consistently smaller and more efficient than the traditional installation. Design loads are typically 25-50,000 Btu per hour instead of 50-150,000 Btu/hr. Many houses have integrated systems, where one heating unit provides both space heat and domestic hot water.
Moisture Control: Energy Crafted Homes must also comply with moisture control specifications. Vapor retarders reduce the potential for condensation of water vapor in walls and attics, which can lead to dry rot and structural damage. Although technically required by building codes, vapor retarders have often been no more than kraft paper, often improperly installed. In Energy Crafted Homes, a continuous vapor retarder must be installed on exterior walls, ceilings, and floors and around insulated air ducts. Moisture retarders are also installed under slab floors and on crawl space floors. These continuous vapor retarders also serve as air barriers, significantly reducing infiltration.
Air Quality Control: With the very low natural infiltration rate of an Energy Crafted Home, special precautions assure good indoor air quality. The best solution to indoor air pollutants is to eliminate the source, so builders avoid materials with high urea-formaldehyde content. Since radon is another potential concern, program homes are built with a sub-slab layer of stone which will permit the installation of a sub-slab ventilation system, should radon mitigation become necessary.
Ventilation Equipment: Most Energy Crafted Homes have heat recovery ventilators, sometimes fed directly into the heating system ductwork. The rest have exhaust-only ventilation, which typically exhausts air continuously from bathrooms and kitchens directly outside, drawing in fresh air through inlets in living room and bedroom walls. Either method of controlled ventilation is acceptable; however, less energy is required to heat air that has passed through a heat recovery ventilator.
In addition, mechanical ventilation brings in fresh air and exhausts air which may contain pollutants and/ or excess moisture. Systems must provide 60 cfm of continuous ventilation in small homes and 100 cfm in larger homes. These levels of ventilation are based on ASHRAE recommendations of 15 cfm per person above .35 ACH. An Energy Crafted Home-certified installer must install and balance the system.
Heating and Domestic Hot Water: All fossil-fuel heating appliances must have sealed or closed combustion, where outdoor air is provided directly to the combustion chamber and flue exhaust gases are vented directly outside. No interior house air is used for combustion, so there is no risk of backdrafting.
Lighting Hard-wired fluorescent fixture are encouraged, and for each one installed, the builder receives an additonal incentive. Compact flourescent bulbs must be used in all bare bulb, non- decorative sockets inside an Energy Crafted Home.
Measuring 40% Savings
Is it possible to measure the energy savings obtained through construction of new, efficient homes? The Pacific Northwest found that it was possible to determine the energy savings with surprising confidence. Moreover, the results were obtained with old-fashioned technology.
In 1985, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) wanted to test the efficacy of the proposed insulation standards for new electrically heated houses in the Pacific Northwest. The standards required heavy insulation, triple-glazed windows, and mechanical ventilation. Like those in the Energy Crafted Homes program, participating builders received extensive training prior to construction (in addition to generous subsidies). The monitoring was surprisingly primitive: separate kilowatt-hour meters for the furnace and water heater. That, along with the normal meter on total use, provided submetered data for space heating, water heating, and other uses (including appliances, cooking, lighting, and miscellaneous uses). One other device recorded the average inside temperature. The occupants took readings from each meter every week and mailed them on postcards to BPA. More than 200 efficient homes, plus an equal number of control homes, were monitored for two years. (The energy and temperature data for a typical house are shown in Figure 1.) The houses were inspected for physical factors, such as infiltration rates and general quality control. Finally, builders and occupants were surveyed to order to determine costs, appliances, demographics, and satisfaction.
These data were sufficient to determine that the homes built to the new standards used about 40% less space heating energy than those built to current practice. The actual metered difference was smaller - about 30% - but the efficient homes were also 25% larger than the control homes and were kept warmer. If the two groups of homes had been the same size and operated at the same temperature, then the savings would have been over 40%. The energy use of each house depends on the climate, insulation levels, appliances present, and occupants' behavior, but the average savings were unmistakable. (The range in performance and savings are shown in Figure 2.) The results of the study convinced the Northwest to adopt new, tighter building standards. (For more on the savings from the standards, see Model Conservation Standards Prove Themselves During Cold Snaps, HE, Sept/Oct '90, p. 11- 12.)
-Alan Meier
Good Cents' Measured Savings Fall Short of Prescription
Just a bit to the north, Central Maine Power has been running a training and incentive program to encourage construction of new, efficient, electrically heated homes for several years. Central Maine Power's Good Cents program did not prescribe specific levels of insulation; instead, it required a level of performance under design conditions (an 80 degrees F temperature difference). This allowed builders to trade off various features, such as extra glass area with thicker wall insulation. Builders prefer this kind of standard because it gives them much more flexibility to meet the demands of individual clients.
Based on a 1985 field study, the thermal performance of current- practice new homes was thought to be around 30 Btu/hr/ft2, so CMP required Good Cents homes to consume less than 16 Btu/hr/ft2 for those smaller than 1,250 ft2 (less than 15 Btu/hr/ft2 for 1,250 ft2 and larger). Good Cents promotional literature promises a 40% space heating savings compared to baseline homes. Over 4,500 houses and condominiums have been built to Central Maine Power's specifications.
The energy savings were recently estimated in a report by the consulting firm, RCG/Hagler, Bailly. It evaluated the savings based on utility bills, engineering estimates, and a small number of submetered homes.
The engineering surveys revealed one problem: the current practice houses (that is, the non-participants) were much better insulated than the utility had supposed: audits found that the average new electrically heated house's thermal performance was actually 18 Btu/hr/ft2. So, even though the Good Cents houses were also a little better than assumed, the expected savings were considerably reduced. The billing data confirmed the engineering estimates: actual energy savings were only a little more than 20% (about 3,000 kWh per single-family house).
The analysis was complicated because the Good Cents homes were larger than the comparison homes, the occupants wealthier, and many used wood heat. Furthermore, only whole-house billing data were available for most homes, so space heating consumption could only be inferred through Princeton Scorekeeping Method (PRISM) analysis. Logistical problems prevented full use of the submetering phase of the project. Nevertheless, the small sample of submetered homes proved to be very reliable indicators of the savings. RCG/Hagler, Bailly recommended that future studies should submeter the heating system because data from that portion of the study were particularly reliable. The Bonnevile results (discussed in the box Measuring 40% Savings) reinforce that advice.
-Alan Meier
Figure 1
Figure 2
| Back to Contents Page | Home Energy Index | About Home Energy |
Home Energy can be reached at: firstname.lastname@example.com
Home Energy magazine -- Please read our Copyright Notice
- 1


text:
(TheBlaze/AP) -- A variety of issues are at stake in the 2012 presidential election. From abortion to the economy, these elements are diverse. And the candidates, as evidenced through the first presidential debate and ongoing campaign-trail jockeying, have starkly different views on how each issue should be confronted and handled.
As a result, the stakes are high, as liberals and conservatives, alike, are pushing to see their vision for the future of America come to fruition. The problem? In many instances, these sentiments are radically different from one another, making the election a focal point with results that may set the stage for America's direction for years to come.
The following issues are at the forefront of the sociopolitical landscape. Whoever is election -- be it President Barack Obama or Mitt Romney -- will likely implement strong views and a vision that will move America in a pointed direction on each front:
Abortion and birth control are divisive issues in politics, and they've flared up at times in this campaign despite the candidates' reluctance to dwell on them (here's more in-depth analysis about where the candidates stand).
President Barack Obama supports abortion rights. And his health care law requires contraceptives to be available for free for women in workplace health plans -- a plan that has caused intense debate and claims that the president has attacked religious liberty in America.
Republican Mitt Romney opposes abortion rights, though he previously supported them. He says the Supreme Court ruling establishing abortion rights should be reversed, allowing states to ban abortion. He's also criticized mandatory coverage for contraception as a threat to religious liberty.
Romney's ability as president to enact federal abortion restrictions would be limited unless Republicans gained firm control of Congress. But the next president could have great influence over abortion policy if vacancies arise on the Supreme Court. If two seats held by liberal justices were filled by Romney-nominated conservatives, prospects for a reversal of Roe v. Wade would increase.
The stakes now are similar to what caused the U.S. to invade almost 11 years ago: the threat of more al-Qaida attacks.
Obama says U.S. forces must not leave until Afghan forces can defend the country on their own. Otherwise the Taliban would regain power and al-Qaida might again launch attacks from there. Rival Romney appears to share that view.
What's often overlooked in the "al-Qaida returns" scenario is an answer to this question: Why, after so many years of foreign help, are the Afghans still not capable of self-defense? And when will they be?
The official answer is by the end of 2014, when the U.S. and its allies plan to end their combat role. The Afghans will be fully in charge, or so it is hoped, and the war will be over, at least for Americans.
Campaign finance:
This election probably will cost more than $1 billion. Big donors who help cover the tab could gain outsized influence with the election's winner. Your voice may not be heard as loudly as a result.
Recent court decisions have stripped away restrictions on how elections are financed, allowing the very rich to afford more speech than the rest. In turn, super PACs have flourished, thanks as well to limitless contributions from the wealthy -- including contributors who have business before the government.
Disclosure rules offer a glimpse into who's behind the money. But the information is often too vague to be useful. And nonprofits that run so-called issue ads don't have to reveal donors.
Obama criticized the Supreme Court for removing campaign finance restrictions. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney supported the ruling. Both are using the lax rules with gusto.
The U.S. accuses China of flouting trade rules and undervaluing its currency to helps its exporters, hurting American competitors and jobs. But imposing tariffs could set off a trade war and drive up prices for American consumers.
Tensions now have spread to the automotive sector: The U.S. is seeking international rulings against Chinese subsidies for its auto and auto-parts exports and against Chinese duties on U.S. autos. Romney says he'll get tougher on China's trade violations. Obama has taken a variety of trade actions against China, but on the currency issue, he has opted to wait for economic forces to encourage Beijing to raise values.
Cheap Chinese goods have benefited American consumers and restrained inflation. But those imports have hurt American manufacturers. And many U.S. companies outsource production to China. One study estimated that between 2001 and 2010, 2.8 million U.S. jobs were lost or displaced to China.
Climate change:
This year America's weather has been hotter and more extreme than ever before, records show. Yet the presidential candidates aren't talking about it -- and debate still surrounds who's causing the globe to heat up (i.e. is it a natural progression or is it caused by human intervention -- or both?).
In the U.S., July was the hottest month ever recorded and this year is on track to be the warmest. Many scientists say that's both from natural drought and man-made global warming. Each decade since the 1970s has been nearly one-third of a degree warmer than the previous one.
Sea levels are rising while glaciers and summer Arctic sea ice are shrinking. Plants are blooming earlier. Some species could die because of global warming.
Obama proposed a bill to cap power plant carbon dioxide emissions, but it died in Congress. Still, he's doubling auto mileage standards and put billions into cleaner energy. Romney now questions the science of man-made global warming and says some actions to curb emissions could hurt an already struggling economy.
A sea of red ink is confronting the nation and presidents to come.
The budget deficit - the shortfall created when the government spends more in a given year than it collects -- is on track to top $1 trillion for the fourth straight year. The government borrows about 40 cents for every dollar it spends.
The national debt is the total amount the federal government owes. It's risen to a shade over $16 trillion.
Obama has proposed bringing deficits down by slowing spending gradually, to avoid suddenly tipping the economy back into recession. He'd raise taxes on households earning more than $250,000 and impose a surcharge of 30 percent on those making more than $1 million. Romney would lower deficits mostly through deep spending cuts.
Defense spending:
At its core, the debate over how much the U.S. spends on defense gets down to this: What is it that America should be defending against?
There are plenty of potential security threats on the horizon, not to mention an unfinished war in Afghanistan.
The size and shape of the defense budget go a long way toward determining whether the U.S. can influence events abroad, prevent new wars and be ready for those it can't avoid. It also fuels the domestic defense industry in ways that affect the vitality of communities large and small across the country.
Obama wants more restraint in military spending, while Romney favors expansion. Obama also wants more focus on Asia-Pacific security, reflecting China's military modernization. But that and other elements of military strategy could come apart if Washington doesn't find a way to avoid automatic budget cuts starting in January.
The job market is brutal and the economy weak. More than 12 million Americans can't find work; the unemployment rate fell in September but is still at a recession-level 7.8 percent. It had been over 8 percent for 43 straight months. A divided Washington has done little to ease the misery.
The economy didn't take off when the recession ended in June 2009. Growth has never been slower in the three years after a downturn. The human toll is staggering. Forty percent of the jobless, 4.8 million people, have been out of work six months or more -- a "national crisis," according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Wages aren't keeping up with inflation.
Obama wants to create jobs by keeping taxes low for everybody but the wealthiest and with public-works spending, clean energy projects and targeted tax breaks to businesses. Romney proposes further cuts in tax rates for all income levels; he'd also slash corporate rates, reduce regulations and encourage oil production.
Education ranks second only to the economy in issues important to Americans. Yet the U.S. lags globally in educating its children. And higher education costs are leaving students saddled with debt or unable to afford college at all.
State budget cuts have meant teacher layoffs and larger class sizes. Colleges have had to make do with less. It all trickles down to the kids in the classroom.
Although Washington contributes a small fraction of education money, it influences teacher quality, accessibility and more. For example, to be freed from provisions of the No Child Left Behind law, states had to develop federally approved reforms.
Romney wants more state and local control over education. But he supports some of Obama's proposals, notably charter schools and teacher evaluations. So, look for them to be there whoever wins the White House.
Gay marriage:
Both sides of the gay marriage debate agree on this much: The issue defines what sort of nation America will be.
Half a dozen states and the District of Columbia have made history by legalizing it, but it's prohibited elsewhere and 30 states have placed bans in their constitutions.
Obama supports legal recognition of same-sex marriage, as a matter decided by states. Romney says same-sex marriage should be banned with a constitutional amendment.
The debate divides the public down the middle, according to recent polls, and stirs up passion on both sides.
In November, four states have gay-marriage measures on their ballots. In Minnesota, the vote is whether to ban gay marriage in the state constitution. Voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington state are voting on whether to legalize gay marriage.
Thus far, foes of gay marriage have prevailed in all 32 states where the issue reached the ballot.
Gun violence has been splayed across front pages with alarming frequency lately: the movie theater killings in Colorado, the Sikh temple shootings in Wisconsin, the gunfire outside the Empire State Building and more. Guns are used in two-thirds of homicides, according to the FBI. But the murder rate is less than half what it was two decades ago.
Neither Obama nor Romney has had much to say about guns during the campaign. Obama hasn't pushed gun control measures as president; Romney says new gun laws aren't needed.
It's getting harder to argue that stricter gun laws are needed when violent crime has been decreasing without them.
But the next president may well fill at least one Supreme Court seat, and the court is narrowly divided on gun control. An Obama appointee could be expected to be friendlier to gun controls than would a Romney nominee.
Health care:
America's health care system is unsustainable. It's not one problem, but three: cost, quality and coverage.
The U.S. has world-class hospitals and doctors. But it spends far more than other advanced countries and people aren't much healthier. And in an aging society, there's no reliable system for long-term care.
Obama's expansion of coverage for the uninsured hits high gear in 2014. Obama keeps today's Medicare while trying to slow costs. He also extends Medicaid.
Romney would repeal Obama's health care law -- but he hasn't entirely spelled out what he'd do instead. On Medicare, he favors the option of a government payment to help future retirees get private coverage.
The risk of expanding coverage: Health costs consume a growing share of the stressed economy. The risk of not: Millions continue uninsured or saddled with heavy coverage costs as the population grows older.
An estimated 11.5 million illegal immigrants are living and often working in the United States. Figuring out what to do with them has confounded Washington for years.
Lax enforcement could mean more illegal immigrants competing with citizens for jobs and some social services, without necessarily paying income taxes. A too-tight policy could mean farmers and others in industries that rely on the cheaper labor of illegal immigrants are left begging for workers, passing higher costs on to everyone else or going out of business.
Obama backed the DREAM Act, a failed bill that would have provided a path to legal status for many young illegal immigrants. In June, Obama decided to allow as many as 1.7 million of them to stay for up to two years. Romney supports completing a fence at the Mexican border and other tough security measures while pledging to veto the DREAM Act.
Income inequality:
The income gap between the rich and everyone else is getting larger, while middle incomes stagnate. That's raised concerns that the middle class isn't sharing in economic growth as it used to.
Obama would raise taxes on households earning more than $250,000 a year, plus set a minimum tax rate of 30 percent for those earning $1 million or more. He also wants to spend more on education, "a gateway to the middle class." Romney would cut taxes more broadly and says that will generate enough growth to raise all incomes.
Income inequality has risen for three decades and worsened since the recession ended. The Census Bureau found the highest-earning 20 percent earned 51.1 percent of all income last year. That was the biggest share on records dating to 1967. The share earned by households in the middle 20 percent fell to 14.3 percent, a record low.
With the Iraq war over and Afghanistan winding down, Iran is the most likely place for a new U.S. military conflict.
Obama says he'll prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. He hopes sanctions alongside negotiations can get Iran to halt uranium enrichment. But the strategy hasn't worked yet. Obama holds out the threat of military action as a last resort.
Romney accuses Obama of being weak on Iran. He says the U.S. needs to present a greater military threat.
Attacking Iran is no light matter, however. That is why neither candidate clearly calls for military action.
Tehran can disrupt global fuel supplies, hit U.S. allies in the Gulf or support proxies such as Hezbollah in acts of terrorism. It could also draw the U.S. into an unwanted new war in the Muslim world.
Supreme Court appointments:
With four justices in their 70s, odds are good that whoever wins in November will fill at least one Supreme Court seat. The next justice could dramatically alter the direction of a court split between conservatives and liberals.
One new face could mean a sea change in how millions get health care, shape gay rights and much more.
Obama already has put his stamp on the court by selecting liberal-leaning Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, 50-somethings who could serve a quarter-century or more. Romney has promised to name justices in the mold of the court's conservatives.
Since the New Deal, Supreme Court decisions have made huge differences in American lives, from rulings to uphold Social Security, minimum wage laws and other Depression-era reforms to ringing endorsements of equal rights. Big decisions on health care, gun rights and abortion have turned on 5-4 votes.
Social Security:
Unless Congress acts, the trust funds that support Social Security are on pace to run out of money in 2033, triggering an automatic 25 percent cut in benefits that millions of older Americans rely on for most of their income.
That may seem far off. But the sooner Congress acts, the more time to phase in changes slowly.
Social Security could be preserved for generations with modest but politically difficult changes to benefits or taxes, or some of both.
Obama hasn't laid out a detailed plan for addressing Social Security. Romney proposes a gradual increase in the retirement age and, for future beneficiaries, slower growth in benefits for the wealthy.
But nothing will happen without White House leadership.
For millions of retired and disabled workers, Social Security is almost all they have to live on. Monthly retirement benefits are $1,237; average disability benefits, $1,111.
Syria's conflict is the most violent to emerge from last year's Arab Spring. Activists say at least 23,000 people have died over the last 18 months.
Obama wants Syrian President Bashar Assad to leave power. But he won't use U.S. military force to make that happen.
Romney says "more assertive" U.S. tactics are needed, without fully spelling them out.
The future of Arab democracy could hinge on the crisis. After dictatorships fell in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, critics say Assad's government has resorted to torture and mass killings to stay in power.
Its success would deny the U.S. a major strategic victory. Assad long has helped Iran aid Hamas and Hezbollah, destabilizing Lebanon while threatening Israel's security and U.S. interests in the Middle East.
But extremists among the opposition, Assad's weapons of mass destruction and worries about Israel's border security have policymakers wary about deeper involvement.
Almost every U.S. taxpayer faces a significant tax increase next year, unless Congress and the White House agree on a plan to extend a huge collection of tax cuts expiring at the end of the year.
And there's a huge debate over how to overhaul the tax code to make it simpler, with lower rates balanced by fewer deductions.
Obama wants to extend Bush-era tax cuts again, but only for individuals making less than $200,000 and married couples making less than $250,000.
Romney wants to extend all those tax cuts and enact new ones, dropping all income tax rates by 20 percent. Romney says he would pay for that by eliminating or reducing tax credits, deductions and exemptions. But he won't say which ones would go.
Most lawmakers want a simpler tax code, but millions count on the mortgage interest deduction, child tax credit and more, making progress all but impossible.
Wall Street regulation:
The debate over banking rules is, at its core, a dispute about how to prevent another economic cataclysm.
The financial crisis that peaked in 2008 touched off a global economic slowdown. Four years later, the recovery remains painfully slow.
After the crisis, Congress passed a sprawling overhaul of banking rules and oversight. The law gives regulators new tools to shutter banks without resorting to emergency bailouts. It restricts risky lending and establishes a new agency to protect consumers from misleading marketing and other traps.
The new rules also boost companies' costs, according to Romney and many in the business community. Romney believes the law is prolonging the nation's economic agony by making it harder for companies to invest and grow. He has pledged to repeal it. Obama fought for and supports the law.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Pick 4 is also very easy to play- an online draw lottery game by Florida lottery, being played twice a day, Midday and Evening.
Winning Numbers
Hi there! we have a look on Florida Pick 4 Evening winning numbers. It is a Tuesday, June 15, 2021 and your winning Evening Pick 4 numbers are:
7, 0, 7, 0 Fireball 9
How to play and how to win?
It is very easy to play. You can get a top prize of $5000. Simply you need to select numbers from 0000 to 9999 and join the draw. You can play it every day, twice a day. To play you need to get play slip by two ways:
- From an authorized Florida Lottery retailer.
- By using your Florida Lottery mobile app- create a play slip.
For better playing and winning follow these instructions:
- Select two numbers each from 0000- 9999.
- Select the play type you want: Straight, Box, Straight/Box, Combo, Front Pair, Mid Pair or Back Pair.
- Select the amount ($0.50 or $1) you want to play for. (all Straight/Box plays cost $1; Combo plays cost $2 to $24).
- If you want to get more chances to win then add fireball.
- Select the draw time: midday, evening, or both.
- If you want to play the same numbers for more than one draw, simply inform the retailer how many more draws you will play.
- So, select the number of draws in the Advance Play section of your play slip.
- Daily two drawings are held at Midday and on evening.
- You can win a top prize of $5000 for a Straight play on $1 ticket, $1,198 for a Box play, $3,099 for a Straight/Box play, and $50 for a Front Pair, Mid Pair, or Back Pair play.
- You can avail prizes, 1/2 of the $1 play prizes on a $0.50 ticket.
How to Claim?
- Prizes less than $600 can be paid in-person instantly by Florida lottery retailers.
- Prizes equal or more than $600 can be claimed by secured drop-off inside any Florida Lottery district office.
- You can claim your prize via mailing your play ticket to Florida lottery office.
- Winners of $600 and more must fill the winner claim form along with required documentation where your identity is proved.
Watch the Drawings
If you are playing this game and want to get results of Pick 4 game then keep in touch with Florida Lottery.
Frequently Asked Questions
The FAQs about Pick 4 Florida lottery are listed below for your better understanding.
- What is Pick 4?
- How to play Pick 4?
- What is the cost of its ticket?
- From where we can get its ticket?
- How much I can win?
- When are the drawings held?
- What is firewall and its benefit?
If you have any quires regarding Pick 4, then no worries! Read this as all the questions are answered and explained well in this article.
Enjoy your playing and win exciting prizes.


text:
US cardinals seek answers on Vatican dysfunction
VATICAN CITY - Cardinals said Monday they want to talk to Vatican managers about allegations of corruption and cronyism within the top levels of the Catholic Church before they elect the next pope, evidence that a scandal over leaked papal documents is casting a shadow over the conclave and setting up one of the most unpredictable papal elections in recent times.
The Vatican said 107 of the 115 voting-age cardinals attended the first day of pre-conclave meetings, at which cardinals organize the election, discuss the problems of the church and get to know one another before voting.
The red-capped "princes" of the church took an oath of secrecy and decided to pen a letter of "greeting and gratitude" to Benedict XVI, whose resignation has thrown the church into turmoil amid a torrent of scandals inside and out of the Vatican.
"I would imagine that as we move along there will be questioning of cardinals involved in the governing of the Curia to see what they think has to be changed, and in that context anything can come up," said U.S. Cardinal Francis George.
The Holy See's administrative shortcomings were thrust into stark relief last year with the publication of documents stolen from Benedict's desk that exposed the petty infighting, turf battles and allegations of corruption, nepotism and cronyism in the highest echelons of the Catholic Church.
The pope's butler was convicted of stealing the papers and leaking them to a journalist; he eventually received a papal pardon.
The emeritus pope, meanwhile, remained holed up at the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo, his temporary retirement home while the discussions on picking his successor kick into gear in Rome.
No date has been set yet for the conclave and one may not be decided on officially for a few more days; the dean of the College of Cardinals has said a date won't be finalized until all the cardinals have arrived.
Eight voting-age cardinals are still en route to Rome; some had previously scheduled speaking engagements, others were due in over the coming days, the Vatican said. Their absence, however, didn't otherwise delay the conclave's preparations.
Speculation has mounted that the conclave might begin around March 11, with the aim of having a new pope installed by March 17, the Sunday before Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week.
With 115 electors, 77 votes are needed to reach the two-thirds majority to be elected pope.
Those who were in Rome prayed together Monday, chatted over coffee and took an oath to maintain "rigorous secrecy with regard to all matters in any way related to the election of the Roman Pontiff."
The core agenda item is to set the date for the conclave and put in place the procedures to prepare for it, including closing the Sistine Chapel to visitors and getting the Vatican hotel cleared out and swept for bugs or other electronic monitoring devices, lest anyone try to listen in on the cardinals' secret conversations.
Yet the first day of discussion was rocked by new revelations of scandal after Scottish Cardinal Keith O'Brien admitted that his "sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal."
O'Brien last week resigned as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh and said he wouldn't participate in the conclave after four men came forward with allegations that he had acted inappropriately with them - the first time a cardinal has stayed away from a conclave because of personal scandal.
The Vatican on Monday refused to confirm whether it was investigating O'Brien, even though the Scottish church's press office said the allegations had been forwarded to the Vatican and that it expected Rome would pursue the case.
Pressed to respond to reports of a fifth accuser who reportedly approached the Vatican directly in October with accusations, a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Thomas Rosica, read O'Brien's statement admitting to sexual misconduct and said the Vatican would say no more.
The Vatican and cardinals attending the session said the O'Brien case didn't come up during formal or informal conversations.
"It's a tragic moment for him," George said.
At a briefing discussing the priorities for the future pontificate, George said the next pope will have to follow canon law and keep priests who molested children out of parishes.
"He obviously has to accept the universal code of the church which is zero tolerance for anyone who has ever abused a minor child and therefore may not remain in public ministry in the church," George said. "That has to be accepted. I don't think that will be a problem."
Separately, the Vatican is still reeling from the fallout of the scandal over leaked papal documents, and the investigation by three cardinals into who was behind it.
American cardinals seem particularly keen to get to the bottom of the Vatican dysfunction, and they have had access to a very knowledgeable tutor, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the Vatican's ambassador to Washington.
Vigano's letters to the pope were the most explosive leaks of documents last year; in them, Vigano pleaded with Benedict not to be transferred after exposing alleged corruption in the awarding of Vatican contracts that cost the Holy See millions of euros (dollars).
Vigano was named the Vatican's ambassador to Washington, and as such has been able to give U.S. cardinals a clear-eyed view of the true state of the Vatican, said Corriere della Sera commentator Massimo Franco.
"They have appreciated him very much because he doesn't read the Vatican situation with a rosy lens, a rosy view," Franco said in an interview.
In his new book "The Crisis of the Vatican Empire," Franco paints a portrait of a Vatican completely falling apart, with financial scandals at its bank, backstabbing among its ruling class and the sex abuse scandal discrediting the church on the global stage.
"If we think of the pope, in a way the pope decided to sacrifice himself because he couldn't change anything," Franco said.
Coupled with the upheaval of Benedict's resignation, the scandals have contributed to create one of the most unclear papal elections in recent times.
"It will be a very open conclave with a very unpredictable outcome," Franco said.
In one of his last audiences before resigning, Benedict gave the three cardinals who investigated the leaks the go-ahead to answer their colleagues' questions about the results of their investigation.
"There are members of the College of Cardinals who are interested in having information that has to do with the situation in the Curia and the church in general and will ask to be informed by their colleagues," the Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said.


text:
Peter Bergen was the only journalist allowed in the al Qaeda leader's compound. He describes what he saw and learned.
Post by: Anderson Cooper
Filed under: al Qaeda • Peter Bergen
Anderson Cooper goes beyond the headlines to tell stories from many points of view, so you can make up your own mind about the news. Tune in weeknights at 8 and 10 ET on CNN.
Questions or comments? Send an email
Want to know more? Go behind the scenes with AC361°


text:
This site is no longer being supported. We are working to integrate offers and promotions into various Google sites and services.
You can still access your saved offers in a few ways:
- Sign in to google.com/wallet and click Offers on the left hand side.
- Download the Google Wallet app for Android or iOS. Open it and touch the menu > Offers.
Looking for your saved coupons from your grocery retailers? Please visit this page for more information.
For more information, please visit our help center.


text:
Big Kahuna Hare Scrambles - Morning Classes
Photos from the 2011 Big Kahuna Hare Scrambles afternoon classes. If you'd like to purchase a photo, please contact me at email@example.com. High resolution digital files are $25 each and for print prices see the Prints page. If you'd like to order a CD of all the images of yourself from the day, it is $100. All prices do not include 12% HST.Read More
337 / 612


text:
It's a tradition like no other, Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin on the platform in Times Square, delivering laughs, and sometimes gasps, to ring in the new year.
The party continues for the sixth year this Monday at 10 p.m. ET with our unique traditions and all the possibilities that come with unscripted air time. Look back at an assortment of our favorite memories in one punchy video, and join us on December 31!
Remember to tweet your New Year's Eve message now or during the show using #CNNNYE for a chance to see your tweet on-air! You can also submit questions for Anderson and Kathy in the comment section below. And follow @AC360 on Twitter or check out the AC360 Facebook page to go behind the scenes on New Year's Eve.
I tuned into your show on New Year's Eve because I thought Key West and Eastport, Me quirky NYE celebration would be interesting to watch. I was bored and disgusted. They showed very little of Key West and Eastport which would have been more interesting than watching Kathy blather on and on.
There was a "best"? Way to keep it classy CNN.....way to keep it classy.......
It's too bad so many people can't just relax and watch what THEY want. If they don't like this show THAT'S why there are other ones on at the same time. Just because you don't like what I like is not cause to disparage a great show. I am just over fifty (50), straight, white, and have not made midnight on NYE in over 15 years. I started watching this year's show and laughed my way in 2013 – thanks CNN!
If the genders were reversed on Kathy's advances, there would be sexual assault or sexual harassment charges. "no" means "no!" Fire her and make a point of equality in the work place.
C'mon Anderson-dump Kathy. Didn't think she'd be back after year 1. Your integrity and professionalism is becoming more and more diminished.
How disgusting can CNN get???????? Kathy Griffin was disgusting and Cooper wasn't much better allowing her to do that do you realize that children were allowed to stay up and watch your show! SHAME ON YOU! ARE YOU PEOPLE KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm reporting this to the FCC
I will no longer watch CNN after last night's disgusting NYE display. Kathy G has some serious problems and your viewing audience should not be subjected to it. I know I won't be.....CNN will no longer be accessed on my TV.
I love and respect them! I'm looking forward to watching next year-end show!!
Loved the New Year's Eve show! Very funny and not stuffy like all of the others. Please continue the Anderson and Kathy pairing as they are a dynamic duo.
Anderson Cooper, you are better than this! I am no prude but Kathy Griffin's humor was cheap and degrading to you, to CNN and to real, respectable comediennes and entertainers everywhere. I applaud you for not responding to her barrage of baiting and use of cheap humor. I finally switched channels because I could no longer endure your pain. I am enjoying your broadcast tonight much better. Even though the topic is on the House vote (not exactly cheerful) but your reputation is redeemed.
From Canada and oh boy!! Kathy Griffith is disgusting and should never be allowed on air. She was vile and repugnant towards Anderson and someone should have put a stop to her continued on and on and on attempts to sexually embarass Anderson. Get rid of that woman!!! It gives a bad impression and especially on CNN of all places.
Kathy Griffin lost me last night. While I find her occasionally entertaining, I found her behavior last night despicable and disgusting. Is CNN no longer a family station. My husband and I were watching in our playroom with our ten year old. Who in the world could ever have anticipated such a vulgar, foul display. And Anderson Cooper...shame on you for letting this woman degrade you and your reputation. And CNN...you are now complicit. Before, she said the F word on live tv and you let her come back. What are you going to do now?
That was just horrifying. Shameful.
I have a friend that works for CNN but she is embarrassed to tell anybody she works there anymore, tells them she works for turner broadcasting instead.
I totally understand why.
i am appalled at the tasteless display on your new years eve show – without any point – this is a news network or ?? –
im right in there with you for that. Get rid of tasteless Kathy and there was nothing funny in that whole LONG display of rude vulgar attempts on Anderson. UGH
The show was disgusting
CNN pls leave Kathy Griffin to the wasteside and stop bringing Anderson down. I expect better judgement from your network. The new year' s show does need her degrading and humiliating antics.
I never enjoyed watching TV on New Year's Eve as much as last night with Cooper and Griffin.
Made the 'acts' on all other channels seem so boring.
Look forward to seeing them next year
Seriously? Honey Boo Boo. Tsk, tsk, Anderson. Had to change the channel.
Kathy Griffin was appalling last night and everyone at our new year's eve party here in the NC mountains on Lake James was equally blown away by her behavior, much less that you allowed it to be rerun again and again. Anderson Cooper's reputation as such an honorable newscaster is tainted by his association with her and CNN's approval of her behavior. What are you thinking???!!!! And that people all over the world were watching America's celebration being all about "going down" on Anderson???!!!! We are not prudes, just American Men and Women who want better representation of our country....where have our ethics and our morals gone??? What a sick, slack, and uncreative way to make people laugh on New Year's Eve? By making a fool of your best newscaster??? This broadcast was embarrassing for our country and most of its citizens I would believe. What does your network stand for? What do your employees have to "do" in order to please the American public??!!!! You are greatly underestimating the intelligence of our sense of humor and asking us to settle for accepting this atrocity as a celebration of our new year???!!!!
CNN new years show = failure
Here's a suggestion: change the channel.
Love Anderson Cooper.
No longer enjoy Kathy Griffin.
The New Year's Eve TV show was terrible!! Could only tolerate 5 minutes. Did NOT like watching Kathy Griffin humiliate
& verbally abuse Anderson Cooper. He's a fool to allow it!
Kathy Griffin is disgusting. She acted like trash on the New Year's Eve program and CNN keeps letting her back on. When is it enough???
This show was one of the worst shows I had to turn you off..Anderson you have more integrity and professionalism than what I saw last night with Kathy. get a new co-host. I cannot believe CNN thinks this is a dynamic duo. What a disappointment
Best New Years show to watch! My family watches every year – love them both!
I do not like Kathy Griffin but I love Anderson Cooper. She is obnoxious and brings down his credibility. I couldn't watch her blathering. 🙁
I was very dissappointed with your New Years Eve show and will not continue to watch it in the future as long as you have Kathy Griffin on the air. I love Anderson but Kathy needs to go. After the sardine incident she went on and on with her trashy mouth. I felt sorry for Anderson as he kept trying to cover up for her continuous sexual inuendos. It was embarassing and disrespectful. I hope there weren't any young children watching. Is this what the majority of Americans want to see on t.v.? If so, it's a sad future. Anybody else out there feel the same?
I think Kathy Griffin has gone too far this time. She should not be on that platform with A C a year from now. Let someone else take her place for one year. That being said, I would not mind meeting either one of them. A C is a great journalist. Ms. Griffin is probably great at a lot of things.
Kathy is a disgrace to TV.I hope she will never be put on again.
I have been watching CNN for 25 yrs and been a huge fan since coverage of the first Gulf War. However the spectacle on New Years Eve made me question whether CNN still has intergrity. Ratings be damned, have some class and never let that embarrassment happen again!
I thought the Kathy presence was innappropriate for new years eve., She should be on a prime time slime show.
How discusting?
I never liked Kathy G. But even more so now. Your show was crude and disrespectful. Disappointed.
I absolutely loved Anderson and Kathy last night. I am 43 and it is the first time I have actually enjoyed watching tv to see the ball drop! Great Job!
You must be logged in to post a comment.


text:
Apple CEO Tim Cook has posted a public letter to Apple's website in order to apologize for the backlash caused by iOS 6 Maps. In the letter, Cook writes that Apple "fell short on this commitment" to make the best products for its customers, suggesting that customers can use alternatives from the App Store like Bing, Mapquest, or Waze—or they can use the mobile websites for Google or Nokia.
Maps did not receive a glowing reception when iOS 6 was launched earlier this month. In our own review, we pointed out that the driving directions took us to incorrect places and we were very unhappy with the absence of built-in transit directions—despite alternatives being made by developers. Others have echoed these statements, and a mini-uproar (colloquially being referred to as "Mapgate") has begun among Apple-watchers and the general public alike.
Things have apparently gotten bad enough to spur Cook to write a Jobs-style public letter. Below is the full text of the letter, which once again promises that Apple is making improvements to the app.
To our customers,
At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.
We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.
There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.
While we're improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.
Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.
Tim Cook
Apple's CEO


text:
Dr. Jeff Hersh: Sciatica: one big pain in the back
Q: I developed back pain that radiated down my leg. My doctor said it was sciatica and prescribed ibuprofen. How common is this?
A: The left and right sciatic nerves, the largest nerves in the body, emerge from the spine in the lower back and then travel to the left and right leg. They carry the signals that control some of the muscles of the calf, foot and the back of the knee. They also carry the sensation signals for the back of the thigh and calf as well as the sole of the foot.
Sciatica is actually a description of symptoms and not a disease. Sciatica symptoms include pain (or sometimes a tingling or numb sensation) and/or muscle weakness (of the muscles innervated by the sciatic nerve). Sciatica is due to pressure, injury and/or inflammation of the sciatic nerve, usually on one side of the body, although occasionally the causative condition can affect both sciatic nerves as they emerge from the spine.
There are disks (soft, cushioning tissue that act as a kind of shock absorber) between the spinal vertebrae that enable the spine to be able to bend and twist. The most common cause of sciatica is pressure on the sciatic nerve from a herniated, slipped or bulging disk. Degenerative disease of the lower spine, spinal stenosis (a narrowing of the space between the vertebrae), misalignment of the vertebrae (for any reason) or spasm of the piriformis muscle (a muscle deep in the buttocks) may also cause sciatica. Other less common causes include bone tumors or fractures (for example a pelvic fracture).
Although sciatica is uncommon before age 20, it becomes pretty common by age 40 to 50; 10 to 40 percent of people will have an episode of sciatica in their lifetime. Risk factors for developing sciatica include obesity, smoking (possibly by increasing degenerative bone disease and possibly for other reasons), prolonged sitting and frequent lifting/twisting (these last two may be related to the type of work the patient does).
The severity of sciatica varies from one person to another and over time in a given patient, and may range from an annoying ache/burning to severe disabling pain. Similarly, the weakness can be subtle or overt. Sciatica is often exacerbated by certain positions (such as sitting) and/or certain movements.
The diagnosis of sciatica is made based on the history and physical exam; laboratory or imaging tests are not usually needed. In fact serial MRI's show that most people with disk herniation actually have the herniation improve over time, and about a third of people without back pain or sciatica have some disk herniation; so disk herniation clearly comes and goes in many people.
In someone who develops concerning symptoms such as fever and/or low back skin redness (these may suggest an infection), severe weakness, bowel or urinary symptoms or unexpected worsening/persistence of symptoms, or has trauma as the initiating event (maybe suggesting a fracture), testing may be indicated. If infection is suspected, blood tests may be ordered. X-rays, CT or MRI may be utilized to image the lower spine to help identify possible causative pathology.
Over three quarters of people with sciatica get better over the course of days to weeks, so the initial treatments are aimed at alleviating symptoms (usually with over-the-counter or prescription pain medications), avoiding things that make it worse (such as lifting, prolonged sitting or other activities), and allowing time for improvement. Bed rest can actually be counter-productive; slowly increasing activity as tolerating typically leads to the best results.
Since spasm of the muscles in the lower back may exacerbate symptoms, muscle relaxants and/or application of heat/cold may be useful. For patients with persistent symptoms where inflammation may be part of the problem, steroid injections may be considered. In selected patients, for example those with persistent symptoms or other complications, surgery to decompress the sciatic nerve root (for example removal of parts of a herniated disk or bone that is pressing on the nerve) may be considered.
Staying active and fit can minimize the risk of developing sciatica. Physical therapy and/or exercises to strengthen the abdomen and lower back may be useful to help minimize recurrences once the patient is better.
Jeff Hersh, Ph.D., M.D., can be reached at email@example.com.


text:
Don't Wait to Buy More Flooring
If you are getting new flooring for your home – whether carpeting, laminate, vinyl, hardwood or other material – be sure you get all you need or think you will need. All too often homeowners buy flooring and finish one room with the hopes of finishing another room later down the road with the same material, only to find that the flooring has been discontinued and is no longer available!
Don't let this happen to you. We all know procrastination is not the most efficient way to go through life. Many times you can get away with it, and some people even thrive on it by having the added pressure to get a project done before a looming deadline. That is fine if it's something within your control. However, with flooring, there is no guarantee that what's in the store one day will still be there another month or year later.
Flooring styles are constantly changing and evolving. Manufacturers create different styles that have varying shelf lives. Some may last for 10 years while others may only be available for a couple of years. There is really no way to know when the manufacturer will decide to cease making a certain product. They decide based on how the product sells and how the market continues to change.
So if you love your flooring and think you'll want more to finish additional rooms in your house, don't wait! Buy more now and store it until you need it. It may seem out-of-line to buy something when you don't need it at the time, but it's better to have it for when you do need it.
Have you ever had a favorite pair of shoes? Maybe you have a certain brand and style that fit just right and provide the most comfort you've ever had on your feet. You decide when this pair wears out, you are getting another pair just like them. So, that inevitable day comes when you go to the shoe store or online but no amount of searching allows you to find that style anymore. It's disappointing to say the least, and you end up getting a different pair of shoes that may turn out great, but they will never be like that last pair!
It's silly to compare shoes to flooring; however, the same concept applies. You have flooring or carpeting installed in your home, and you love it! You decide a year or two later you want to continue that flooring from the kitchen to the dining room, or from the living room all the way down the hall. Then you find it's no longer available, and you have to settle for an alternate flooring that won't exactly match your current décor.
You can roll the dice if you like and take a chance that the flooring you want will still be available months or years later, or you can be proactive and get the flooring now. It might be a pain finding a place to store it, but it will be so worth it when you are ready to put it down.
Source by Luann Weller


text:
Starting late last year, hundreds of US businesses began to receive demand letters from secretive patent-holding companies with six-letter gibberish names: AdzPro, GosNel, and JitNom. The letters state that using basic office equipment, like scanners that can send files to e-mail, infringes a series of patents owned by MPHJ Technologies. Unless the target companies make payments—which start at around $9,000 for the smallest targeted businesses but go up from there—they could face legal action.
In a world of out-there patent claims, MPHJ is one of the most brazen yet. It's even being talked about in Congress. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), who has sponsored the anti-troll SHIELD Act, cited the operation as a perfect example of why the system needs reform. After publishing a story on the scanner-trolling scheme, Ars heard from letter recipients and their lawyers from around the country—Idaho and Texas, California and South Dakota.
Before the AdzPros and GosNels took over, the patents were owned by an entity called Project Paperless, which threatened dozens of businesses in Virginia and Georgia. Project Paperless ultimately filed two lawsuits, prosecuted by lawyers at Hill, Kertscher, and Wharton, an Atlanta firm with complex connections to the patents. In late 2012, Project Paperless sold the patents to MPHJ Technology Investments. Today, the anonymous owner of MPHJ operates GosNel, AdzPro, JitNom, and at least a dozen other shell companies now targeting small businesses around the country.
So how does it all work? Bringing in the patent payoffs is a lawyer-driven business. The top lawyer behind the new scanner-trolling enterprise is Brian Farney, a Texas IP lawyer who is senior partner at Farney Daniels. Farney won't reveal who he's working for; he simply refers to whoever is behind MPHJ as "the client." But the client did agree, surprisingly, to allow Farney to do an interview about the patent-enforcement campaign.
Another lawyer deeply involved in the scanner-trolling enterprise is Jay Mac Rust, a Waco, Texas attorney who works as a kind of in-house patent enforcer for MPHJ. He isn't the only one with that job, but Rust has a special role. It's up to him to calm down letter recipients who are "really irate"—and, at the end of the day, to get them to pay from $900 to $1,200 per worker. Rust didn't agree to talk to Ars, but a source has provided a recording of a revealing conversation he had with Rust.
Together, the Farney and Rust conversations show how the scanner-trolling campaign is designed. They also give a glimpse at how the lawyers involved see themselves. It's the most insight available into a scheme that, to some business owners, feels like a shakedown.
So what are the top lawyers behind MPHJ Technology Investments like? Well, on the phone they come off as really nice guys. Demanding payouts from small business users of everyday technology isn't the typical patent enforcement strategy, but it's perfectly legal under US law. As a business strategy, however, it has generally been considered unworkable—and unwise.
Well, until now. As the art of modern "patent trolling" enters its second decade, the MPHJ scanner-trolling scheme has opened a new front in the battle. The company has a patent that it believes is being violated by "99 percent" of American office workers. And it wants to get paid.
"99 percent of people are using it. You know it and I know it."
Mac Rust is one of a few lawyers who gets certain "territories" of the MPHJ patent scheme. A person who had a conversation with Rust in January about alleged violations of the MPHJ patents—I'll call the source Mr. Smith—gave Ars a recording of his phone call. The recording was made with Rust's knowledge.
In the call, the confused Mr. Smith starts out by telling Rust he can scarcely believe what is happening. "Just to reiterate, my home printer—if I scan to e-mail, it's an option on my Hewlett-Packard printer—I do that, I owe you money?" asks Smith.
"If you said you hooked it up to the Internet, and in one button, you can scan and e-mail directly out—yes, you have violated the patent that we own," says Rust.
That means millions of Americans owe Rust's anonymous client money. But Smith seemed overly focused on his personal behavior, with his home printer. Individuals aren't the intended target, Rust explains.
"We've been trying to do what we can to focus on businesses that have 10 or more employees," says Rust. "But look, it's not perfect. All our information is not exactly perfect. That's why we send a letter to ask you certain questions."
The six-letter entities are divided up by region, Rust continues. "According to patent law, if we're going to sue you, we have to sue you in your area. So we broke those up, so we could sue in those individual areas, so we don't have to drag you to Delaware [where MPHJ is incorporated]. You don't really want to fight in Delaware, and I don't want you to have to fight in Delaware."
"I see. So you're doing me a favor!" says Smith.
"In a sense, yes," replies Rust.
"So—I'm sorry," says Smith. "You're going to have to bear with me. I'm just flabbergasted."
"I highly recommend you contact a patent attorney," says Rust, a theme he returns to throughout the 15-minute phone call.
Telling target companies to consult an attorney may seem like a surprising suggestion for an enforcer of controversial patent claims. But suggesting that small companies lawyer up probably yields excellent results for Rust and MPHJ. A patent lawyer will likely tell targets that the letters shouldn't be ignored, and the lawyer will quickly let them know the cost of fighting an issued patent, which can be hundreds of thousands of dollars—or millions, if a case actually goes to trial. That's far more than the cash asked for by AdzPro, GosNel, and the other MPHJ entities, which will grant a license for between $900 and $1,200 per worker—around $100,000 for a 100-employee business.
"I promise, they'll help you to understand how patent law works," says Rust. "You'll figure out it's not a scam. It's not some kind of bull. We're not trying to harass people. They'll look up the patents and tell you whether or not what you do infringes. And if you don't infringe, hey, let us know that."
Companies that don't infringe just need to sign a simple "declaration" document saying so, Rust explains.
In the MPHJ declaration, which Ars has obtained a copy of, a representative of the target company must swear under penalty of perjury that the company doesn't use any equipment that scans a document to e-mail and then transmits it over a network. If that statement proves to be false, the company agrees to a "consent judgment" in the amount of $1,200 per employee.
But most companies do infringe, according to MPHJ. "If you're scanning direct to e-mail, you're violating," says Rust. "It's pretty simple."
"So everyone violates!" says Smith, later in the call.
"99 percent of people are using it," says Rust. "You know it and I know it. So, yeah."
Smith continues to be incredulous that he as an individual, and not a big company, could be on the hook for payments related to patents. At one point, Rust uses an analogy about Apple v. Samsung to explain to Smith the power that MPHJ has over him.
"Do you know that if you had bought a notebook—or whatever, the Samsung version of the iPad—you know they could have come and taken those away from you? Actually made you give them all back? Do you know that?" says Rust. "So I mean—it's interesting how patent law works. They could have actually stopped everybody from using them. Even though you paid your thousand bucks for the thing, they could have taken them away, under patent law."
Near the end of the call, Smith asks Rust how he even got his phone number. (The call was initiated when Rust called Smith; Smith had been repeatedly calling the call center number featured on the threat letters.)
Rust explains that in general, the scheme is broken up geographically, with certain MPHJ lawyers getting certain regions. The lawyers stick with the target company they are assigned to, suggesting they are paid on some kind of commission basis. But there's a certain type of business owner that always ends up with Rust and his easygoing Texas drawl: the angry ones.
"You're the lucky guy that gets me," Rust explains to Smith. "I get to answer all the ones that are really, really… irate. And I understand that."
"I'm not irate at you, Mac, because like I said, you seem nice," says Smith. "But I am irate."
"I know you are, and I don't blame you," says Rust. He continues:
That's why I encourage people to go to a lawyer. Look, I'm a regular lawyer, too. I started out doing litigation. So if I had seen it [the threat letter], I would have gone, "Aw, bullshit," just like everybody else. But unfortunately once you get into the patent world, you'll find out… some guy that made an invention in 1999, back when this was a novel idea, really does have rights. Even going for a long time into the future. Now that… scanning and e-mailing has replaced the fax machine, all of a sudden his invention is really, really valuable.
Rust ignored our phone calls and e-mails requesting interviews over a period of several weeks. Last week, I made a final phone call to let him know we were moving to publication with a piece that included a recorded phone conversation of him as well as a photo.
He returned that call within minutes.
"I'd appreciate you not running a photo of me, anywhere," said Rust. "You know how photographs work, with copyright and all. If there's a photograph up online of me, I own it."
I simply told Rust that we did have a photo that was fine for us to use, with or without his permission. I asked if he would talk about his work on the MPHJ patent campaign at all.
"No," he said. "I think you've already talked to Brian Farney. I doubt seriously if anything I say is going to change your mind about the legality of this, or anything else."


text:
Netflix has found another way to insult Internet service providers that it blames for poor performance. Netflix customer Yuri Victor, a designer for Vox Media, last night tweeted a picture of a message he got from Netflix that said, "The Verizon network is crowded right now. Adjusting video for smoother playback..."
Netflix already releases monthly speed rankings for each Internet provider, and those showed that Netflix performance on Verizon and Comcast was dropping for months as the companies squabbled over money. After Netflix paid Comcast for a direct connection to its network—a "paid peering" deal—performance improved 65 percent.
Netflix subsequently agreed to pay Verizon for a similar connection in a deal announced April 28. It takes time to establish all the necessary links between Netflix and ISP networks, though, so it's possible some of the traffic is still going through congested ports. It's also possible there's a problem somewhere else in the network. Netflix wants to make sure customers blame Verizon instead of itself, but it's not clear exactly how the company is determining where the congestion lies.
"This is a PR stunt," a Verizon spokesperson told Ars. "We're investigating this claim but it seems misleading."
Netflix didn't answer an e-mail from Ars, but a Netflix spokesperson said on Twitter that "we're always testing new ways to keep members informed."
In the latest Netflix speed rankings in the US, Verizon FiOS was measured at an average of 1.99Mbps per stream while Verizon DSL scored a 1.08Mbps average. Google Fiber was in first place with 3.58Mbps while Comcast is up to 2.77Mbps. The ranking covers April, so it doesn't take into account the new connection between Netflix and Verizon. Rankings for May should come out within a few days.
UPDATE: Verizon VP David Young responded to Netflix's claims in a blog post, saying, "Netflix is solely responsible for choosing how their traffic is routed into any ISP's network... It is sad that Netflix is willing to deliberately mislead its customers so they can be used as pawns in business negotiations and regulatory proceedings. It would be more accurate for Netflix's message screen to say: 'The path that we have chosen to reach Verizon's network is crowded right now.' However, that would highlight their responsibility for the problem."
UPDATE 2: Netflix spokesperson Joris Evers responded to our inquiry, saying, "We are testing ways to let consumers know how their Netflix experience is being affected by congestion on their broadband provider's network. At present, we are testing in the US in areas serviced by many broadband providers. This test started in early May."
Evers pointed out that an AT&T customer reported seeing a similar message in May. The customer wrote on Twitter, "So Netflix is throwing up a 'The AT&T network is crowded right now' message. Meanwhile, Youtube is playing 1080p no problem."


text:
Pretzels earn NIC-10 win over Guilford
Rockford Register Star
FREEPORT — Mariah Katzenberger scored 19 points in Freeport's 54-44 win against Guilford in Monday's NIC-10 girls basketball game.
Chasitee Shroyer added 11 points for the Pretzels.
Shamara Glover had 13 points in the loss for the Vikings.
River Ridge-Scales Mound 66, Potosi 55: Katie Schnitzler scored 26 points to lead River Ridge-Scales Mound in the win. Morgan Wheelwright added 11 points for the RR-SM.
AFC 52, Paw Paw 21: AFC led 31-8 at halftime. Alisyn Essex had 15 points to lead AFC.


text:
HARRISBURG – Some see Gov. Tom Corbett as the man who beat back tax increases, imposed difficult but necessary decisions to handle a multibillion-dollar revenue shortfall and tried to keep the federal health insurance law at bay.
Others argue that he is weak, saying his Republican allies in the Legislature just handed him an embarrassing defeat on liquor privatization, transportation infrastructure and an overhaul of public pensions. Corbett has also pushed to privatize management of the Pennsylvania Lottery, but that initiative has also stalled amid political opposition and questions about its legality. Opponents attribute his poor public approval ratings to policy decisions regarding health care and education.
As Corbett begins to wade into a re-election campaign, some of his Republican friends wonder about his chances next year and Democrats see an opening.
His Democratic predecessor, former Gov. Ed Rendell, isn't counting Corbett out.
'I don't think he has been hurt by this in any appreciable way,' Rendell said, adding that Corbett will be able to raise plenty of campaign money and will have the prestige and agenda-defining power of the governorship. 'He has time to recover, but I think he needs some successes.'
The Corbett re-election effort just rolled out its first ad in what strategists believe will be a $30 million race next year. It seems less and less likely that he will attract a serious primary opponent.
Campaign adviser John Brabender thinks the governor can sell his story to key swing groups – moderate Republicans in the Philadelphia suburbs, conservative Democrats in Johnstown, Erie and Scranton, and independents who may have voted for Corbett in 2010 and President Barack Obama last year.
Expect to hear a lot from him about jobs, taxes, government reform and, perhaps surprisingly, education, where he has been hammered over layoffs, property tax increases and larger class sizes but just signed a funding increase. He can also talk about enacting Marcellus shale regulations and an impact fee on gas drilling, changes in laws governing civil lawsuits, on-time budgets, a fix to the broken unemployment compensation system and abortion regulations.
'We are going to aggressively start sharing the Tom Corbett story in Pennsylvania,' Brabender said. 'And we are not going to be shy about pointing out legitimate contrasts that he has with the many Democrats that are trying to raise a lot of money and run.'
One of them is Allyson Schwartz, a Democratic congresswoman from the Philly suburbs who was quick to capitalize on the collapse of Corbett's non-budget agenda last week.
'We need better leadership in Pennsylvania, and Gov. Corbett's failure in this budget cycle demonstrates his lack of leadership,' Schwartz said, blaming him for cuts to education and disputing his new mantra about historically high levels of state support for K-12 schools.
'Being an incumbent governor, he has to stand up for what he has been and what he has accomplished – or not,' she said.
Corbett's numbers should increase if he spends more time outside Harrisburg, said David Patti, president of the Pennsylvania Business Council. He said the governor also should continue to press for approval of the agenda that broke down in the General Assembly.
'Pennsylvanians who don't do this for a living, who don't do this every day, if they see a transportation bill in September instead of July, I don't think that's a big deal to them,' Patti said.
One of Corbett's allies in the House, Majority Whip Stan Saylor, R-York, said that a lot can happen before the November 2014 election and that even the education cuts have a positive aspect politically.
'I don't think you judge somebody before the completion of his term,' Saylor said. 'If you want to blame the governor for not raising taxes to bring that billion dollars back, blame him for that.'
If Corbett loses, it's likely that female voters will be one reason, so Democrats are focusing on education, health care and his anti-abortion-rights positions. Other potential liabilities include the Penn State investigation and ill-fated lawsuit against the NCAA, failure of a school choice push last year and an investigation by his successor as attorney general into how the sex abuse investigation into former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was handled.
'No one is finding this guy appealing, except for the chamber and those types of associations,' said Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesman Marc Eisenstein. 'Even this time around, the legislators didn't find him appealing.'
The governor has 15 months to convince voters that he deserves another term.
___ Mark Scolforo covers state government for The Associated Press in Harrisburg. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
When you request information about a product or service or register with one of our sites, we may need to know specific information about you. This enables us to process your registration or requests and reply to your needs promptly.
Our site's forms may require users to give us contact information (such as name, e-mail address and mailing address) and demographic information (such as zip/postal code, age, or position). We may use the contact information from these registration and survey forms to send you information about our organization. Users may opt-out of receiving future mailings. See the choice/opt-out section below. Demographic and profile data is also collected at our site. We use this data to tailor your experience at our sites and distribute content that we think you might be interested in.
This site contains links to other sites. Service Experts Inc. and its parents and affiliates are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such web sites. We will not pass your information along to the linked site; however, we cannot protect your information if you provide information to that site.
We monitor customer traffic patterns and site usage to help us develop the design and layout of the Service Experts Inc. web site. We may also use the information we collect to occasionally notify you about important changes to the web site, new services offered by Service Experts LLC, and special offers and information we think you will find valuable. If you would rather not receive this information, please contact us by emailing email@example.com.
We may also collect Personal information through our website, which may use tracking software in the form of "cookies" (text files containing unique identification numbers identifying the Internet browser of the visitor, but not necessarily the identity of the visitor). This information is transmitted to us each time our website is visited, and these cookies allow us to collect and store information such as the type of Internet browser and operating system a visitor uses; the date, time and duration of the visit to our website; the Internet address of the website from which they linked to our website; and the pages they visited while on our website. This means we can continue to show ads to you across the internet. As always, we respect your privacy and are not collecting any identifiable information through the use of Google's or any other 3rd party remarketing system.
Service Experts LLC does not sell, trade or rent your personal information to others. We may choose to do so in the future with trustworthy third parties, but you can request that we do not by e-mailing us at firstname.lastname@example.com. (If you use more than one E-mail address, send this message from each E-mail account you use.) Also, Service Experts LLC may provide aggregate statistics about our customers, sales, traffic patterns and related site information to reputable third-party vendors, but these statistics will include no personally identifying information.
This site allows the following options for removing your information from our database. If you do so, you will not receive future communications from us.
Service Experts LLC 3820 American Dr Suite 200 Plano, TX 75075
Service Experts LLC 3820 American Dr Suite 200 Plano, TX 75075
By using our web site, you consent to the collection and use of this information by Service Experts LLC and its parents and affiliates or any successor entity. If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it.
Service Experts Inc. welcomes your questions and comments about privacy. Please send E-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com.
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this Web site, or your dealings with this site, you can contact:
Service Experts LLC 3820 American Dr Suite 200 Plano, TX 75075


text:
3/4" (19mm) mortar joint
Up to 30" stones
Visit our Resources section to download our catalog, application guides, product facts and other technical information.
Liners are attached to the form using TEK screws through the face of the liner spaced 12" C-C. Optional form mounting T-nuts embedded through the plywood backing is available for Elastospec panels.
Apply with low flow, wide angle, flat spray nozzle and wipe with a cloth to insure a complete even coat to the entire form liner surface. Do not over apply form release agent. Protect treated form liners from precipitation, dust, and debris. Do not apply to reinforcing steel. For best results, use SPEC Release, aVOC compliant form release approved for all form liner materials.
Call Spec Formliners at (714) 429-9500 or email Technical Support
© 2023 Spec Formliners, Inc. All rights reserved.


text:
Woman taking out trash bitten by copperhead snake
Cristi Rinehart got a rude reception from a local reptile while taking out the trash.
Rinehart suffered a snake bite to her leg by a copperhead while walking down the gravel drive of her trailer park June 21. Rinehart and the Morehouse Parish Sheriff's Office were a little surprised by the incident.
"I was kind of shocked because of where it was," Rinehart said.
Lt. Keith Robertson said, "This is the first (snake bite) I know this department has worked in 20 years."
The bite happened as Rinehart and her sons were taking out the trash. Rinehart lives on City Motors Road off of U.S. 425. Rinehart said she grew up in West Carroll Parish and has trounced through fields all her life and never thought twice about getting bit by a snake. So she certainly didn't expect to encounter one in the middle of a gravel drive.
"We were walking along talking and something hit me," Rinehart said.
And when it hit, it hurt.
"It felt like somebody took an ice pick and rammed it from one side of my ankle to the other," Rinehart said.
The sheriff's office became involved because the EMTs called them in to deal with the snake. Robertson said it is standard procedure for the sheriff's office to be called in these cases -- though it's extremely rare -- because doctors need to know what species of snake bit the victim in order to administer the proper anti-venom and antibiotics.
"They always want us to shoot the snake so they know what they're dealing with," Robertson said.
Deputy Scott Culp obliged doctors by dispatching the offending snake with a shot to the head. The copperhead's headless corpse then went with Rinehart to the emergency room -- first at Morehouse General Hospital and then to St. Francis North Hospital in Monroe. Rinehart said it was strange to have the dead snake following her around everywhere she went. But headless snakes were the least of her worries. Neither MGH or St. Francis had any anti-venom to give her.
"That kind of unnerved me," Rinehart said.
Doctors determined the wound wasn't serious enough to be any real danger and gave Rinehart some strong antibiotics to fend off infection. Rinehart said they told her to monitor the bite closely, and if she had any issues, they could send for some anti-venom.
The day after the incident, Rinehart's lower leg and foot were badly swollen, but she said she's starting to get around a little. She said she's even able to laugh a little about it now.
"Today it's funny, but it wasn't funny yesterday," Rinehart said.